This invention relates to an ink jet wherein the ink employed with the jet is of the phase change type which may be referred to as hot melt ink.
A phase change or hot melt ink of the type utilized in an ink jet is characteristically solid at room temperature. When heated, the ink will melt to a consistency so as to be jettable. A hot melt ink jet apparatus and method of operation are disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 610,627, filed May 16, 1984, now abandoned in favor of co-pending application Ser. No. 938,334 filed Dec. 4, 1986 which is assigned to the assignee of this invention. The hot melt ink may be jetted from a variety of apparatus including those disclosed in the aforesaid copending application.
When employing ink in a liquid state, the delivery of the ink is, of course, dictated by the liquid state. Typically, the ink is contained within a closed vessel of some sort prior to delivery to the ink jet. When employing hot melt ink, the solid state nature of the ink suggests different ink delivery techniques.